Saturday, January 4, 2014

Road to Canton Closed to Tight Ends

By Dan Trammel
@HighwayToHall

“There is
no such thing as a ‘future’ Hall of Famer at tight end…It’s difficult for any
tight end to gain admittance to Canton no matter how many passes he catches.”[1]

Eight
tight ends are currently enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame. And only one tight
end appeared on the Preliminary List for the Class of 2014 (Mark Bavaro). One
of the reasons there are so few tight ends represented in Canton is due to the
relatively newness of the position. Another
reason is the difficulty in evaluating the position. With receiving numbers,
they are unfairly compared to wide receivers.

“The tight
end has to be a pass receiver-blocker combination, and he can expect contact on
every play. Most of his routes are to the inside…where violent experiences are
the reward…The attrition rate on tight ends is high. They usually don’t last
too long, or if they do, their years of peak performances are limited.”[2]

In 1978,
the NFL added a new official (the side judge) whose responsibility, in part,
was to limit the assault on tight ends. As Dave Casper explained it, “[I]n the
past, if it was third and eight and the linebacker had coverage on me, he could
wait for me to move three or four yards and just tackle me…The odds were for it
because he’d get caught maybe once out of 10 times.”[3]

The tight end position developed in the 1950s. “[T]he
first player who clearly defined what a tight end could do was Ron Kramer of
the 1959 Packers, a 6’3”, 230-pound receiver who was also a devastating
blocker.”[4]

“The tight
end’s potential as a pass receiver became increasingly apparent through the
exploits of Mike Ditka of the Bears, John Mackey of the Colts and Billy Cannon
of the Raiders, each of whom made a significant contribution to the game and
the position during the ‘60s.”[5]

At the
time of the NFL-AFL Merger, the three tight ends with the most receiving yards
were Mike Ditka (5,156), Jackie Smith (5,115), and John Mackey (4,548). These
three men are in the Hall of Fame. The only other tight ends enshrined in Canton are the members of the
All-Decade Teams of the 1970s (Dave Casper and Charlie Sanders), 1980s (Kellen
Winslow and Ozzie Newsome), and 1990s (Shannon Sharpe), with only Ben Coates (2nd
team of the 1990s) absent.

Is there
room for more tight ends? Certainly. But without the argument that “so-and-so
is a member of the All-Decade Team,” it becomes more difficult. (For the
record, the members of the All-Decade Team of the 2000s are Tony Gonzalez and
Antonio Gates). How do you separate the remaining players? Receptions?
Receiving Yards? Touchdowns? Super Bowl rings? Pro Bowls? Reputation? For the
purposes of this article, we are going to limit our discussion to the 58 men
who have been named to 2 or more Pro Bowls. The list is as follows:

At first
glance, these men appear to be the cream of the crop. However, as always, feel
free to submit your nominations of players who should be included for one
reason or another.

Now, 58
players are too many to evaluate. So first, let’s eliminate those players who
have not achieved the minimum receiving numbers established by the 8 tight ends
currently in the Hall of Fame. After all, it is going to be extremely difficult
to make an argument for a player that has fewer catches, yards, etc. than all
tight ends in the Hall and failed to receive recognition as one of the top 2
players at his position during a decade.

Name

Receptions

Receiving
Yards

Touchdowns

Dave Casper

302

4169

48

Mike Ditka

427

5812

43

John Mackey

331

5236

38

Ozzie Newsome

662

7980

47

Charlie
Sanders

336

4817

31

Shannon Sharpe

815

10060

62

Jackie Smith

480

7918

40

Kellen Winslow

541

6741

45

It looks
like our magic numbers for a tight end are 300/4000/30. So who do we lose?

Fewer than 300
catches

Fewer than
4000 yards

Fewer than 30
touchdowns

Bob Trumpy

Doug Cosbie

Frank Wycheck

Jim Gibbons

Billy Cannon

Steve Jordan

Milt Morin

Billy Joe Dupree

Jim R. Mitchell

Billy Joe Dupree

Jim Gibbons

David Hill

Bubba Franks

Fred Arbanas

Charle Young

Marv Cook

Alvin Reed

Dave Kocourek

Dave Kocourek

Willie Frazier

Ted Kwalick

Billy Cannon

Ted Kwalick

Jim Gibbons

Chad Lewis

Bubba Franks

Chad Lewis

Alvin Reed

Chad Lewis

Jacque MacKinnon

Willie Frazier

Mark Chmura

Mark Chmura

Fred Arbanas

Marv Cook

Milt Morin

Mark Chmura

Jacque MacKinnon

Alvin Reed

Ted Kwalick

Ferrell Edmunds

Junior Miller

Ferrell Edmunds

Paul Costa

Marv Cook

Junior Miller

Ernie Warlick

Ferrell Edmunds

Jacque MacKinnon

Junior Miller

Paul Costa

Paul Costa

Ernie Warlick

Ernie Warlick

In looking
at the above list, I am going to make an executive decision and only drop the
players who appear in two or more of the above columns. As such, we lose:

Jim Gibbons

Milt Morin

Billy Joe Dupree

Bubba Franks

Marv Cook

Dave Kocourek

Billy Cannon

Chad Lewis

Alvin Reed

Willie Frazier

Fred Arbanas

Mark Chmura

Ted Kwalick

Ferrell Edmunds

Junior Miller

Jacque MacKinnon

Paul Costa

Ernie Warlick

This may
not have been the best decision, because we lose the top tight ends in AFL
history, most notably Arbanas and Kocourek, but, as they fall under the purview
of the Seniors’ Committee, we will evaluate their cases when and if they are
nominated.

Unfortunately,
there are still a lot of names left. What else can we do to eliminate some
people? Well, we at the Highway to Hall do not like compilers, players who hang
around a long time and thus have impressive career numbers, despite never
having many, if any, stand out seasons. We think of them as the Harold Baines
All-Stars (feel free to submit nominations for a football counterpart). In
looking at our list of Hall of Fame tight ends, they each had at least 4
seasons with 40 or more receptions. With the understanding that the tight end
position has changed, and more passes are being thrown in general, let’s look
at the list of tight ends that have four or more seasons with 40+ catches.

As we suspected, the list is
definitely skewed towards more modern tight ends. Let’s look at one more list.
Each of our Hall of Fame tight ends had at least 4 seasons with 500+ yards
receiving. The others who can say that are as follows:

Okay, that
is not a big help, but it does drop us to 29 names, most of whom were very
popular players. One can make the argument that the remaining players, in
addition to the 8 Hall of Famers, make up the list of the greatest tight ends
in history. As such, let’s look at each player in more detail. The names are in
alphabetical order so feel free to skip the ones in which you have no interest.

“One of a
kind…Run, block and catch. That was a football-playin’ guy right there.”—Bill
Parcells.[6]

“I think
Mark Bavaro is the best tight end in football because he is the only true tight
end in football. He blocks. He catches. He punishes.”—Mike Ditka.[7]

“The
greatest blocking job by a tight end I’ve ever seen in my life.”--John Madden,
after a game in 1986.[8]

“Mark was
a tremendous player. In my opinion, there aren’t many—I don’t know if there’s a
more complete tight end than Mark Bavaro.”—Bill Belichick.[9]

On a
Monday Night Football game on December 1, 1986, the 7-4-1 49ers led the 10-2
Giants 17-0 at the half. In the 3rd quarter, starting at their 49
yard line, Phil Simms completed a short pass to Bavaro, who turned it into a
31-yard gain by dragging 4 defenders for 20 yards. The play, often featured on
NFL Films, set the tone for the rest of the game as the Giants scored on that
possession and went on to win 21-17. A week later, against the 11-2 Redskins,
Bavaro caught 5 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in the 24-14 victory. He
led the Giants to their first Super Bowl title that season, earning 1st
Team All-Pro Honors, as well as his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

Unfortunately,
the human body wasn’t meant to be used in the Earl Campbell-like mode with
which Bavaro played. Injuries limited his career to 9 seasons and 126 career
games. In those seasons, he caught 351 passes for 4,733 yards and 39
touchdowns, earned 2 trips to the Pro Bowl, 2 1st Team All-Pro
honors, and 2 Super Bowl titles.

When his
name came up on the 2007 Preliminary List, Hall voter Paul Zimmerman wrote,
“Why hasn’t he made it before now? His name certainly has come up. I’d vote for
him in a heartbeat. This is mysterious. Have there been negatives? I can’t
recall any. OK, so he didn’t catch as many passes as other guys did, but
blocking? Oh my God, he hunted linebackers down. Defensive ends, too. Please,
let’s get him in there."[10]

Rich
Caster

“Too fast
and too tall to stop one-on-one,”[11]
Caster was a nightmare for defenses. His 17.19 yards/reception ranks first
among tight ends with a minimum of 300 catches. On September
24, 1972,
Caster put on one of the greatest performances by a tight end in history.
Clinging to a 30-27 4th quarter lead against the Baltimore Colts,
Caster hauled in a 79 yard touchdown pass from Joe Namath to extend the Jets
lead. Following a Johnny Unitas touchdown pass that again cut the Jets lead to
3, Caster caught an 80 yard touchdown pass to finish the scoring and secure the
Jets victory. Caster finished the afternoon with 6 catches for 204 yards and 3
touchdowns. His 204 yards receiving is the third highest single game total
among tight ends, trailing only Shannon Sharpe and Jackie Smith. Further, he
became one of 12 players in history to have multiple 70-yard touchdown catches
in a single game.[12]
By the end of the season, Caster caught 39 passes for an astounding 833 yards
(21.36 yards/catch) and 10 touchdowns. That season he became the last tight end
to average 20 or more yards/catch with a minimum of 35 receptions. He made the
1st of his 3 Pro Bowl selections following the season.

In 1974,
his 89-yard touchdown catch against the Miami Dolphins tied him for the longest
TD catch by a tight end in NFL history with John Mackey.

Caster
spent 8 seasons as a New York Jet, catching 245 passes for 4,434 yards and 36
touchdowns. Following the Oilers trade of Jimmie Giles, the Oilers acquired
Caster in exchange for 2 7th round picks (#187 overall in 1979
(Keith Brown) and #190 overall in 1980 (Bennie Leverett)). With the Oilers,
Caster made his first two postseasons, helping Houston to 2 AFC Championship
Game appearances. He moved on to New Orleans before retiring as a
Redskin following Washington’s victory in Super Bowl
XVII. He retired with 322 catches for 5,515 yards, and 45 touchdowns.

Raymond
Chester

Chester’s career is a question
of “what might have been?” Selected in the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft by
the Oakland Raiders, Chester was named to the Pro
Bowl in each of his first three seasons. He and Rob Gronkowski are the only
tight ends in NFL history with 7 or more receiving touchdowns in each of their
first three seasons. However, following the 1972 season, the Raiders traded Chester to Baltimore in exchange for
defensive end Bubba Smith. His numbers immediately tailed off as the Colts were
unable to utilize his abilities in the same manner as the Raiders. He returned
to Oakland in 1978 in a trade for wide
receiver Mike Siani. In his second season back with the club, Chester caught 8 touchdown
passes and was again named a Pro Bowler. Among tight ends, only Tony Gonzalez
and Antonio Gates have more seasons with 7 or more touchdown catches. In the
1980 AFC Championship Game, Chester’s 5 catches for 102
yards (which included a 65-yard touchdown to open the scoring) helped lead the
Raiders to a 34-27 victory over the San Diego Chargers and into Super Bowl XV.
After losing his starting position to Derrick Ramsey in 1981, Chester retired with 364
receptions for 5,013 yards and 48 touchdowns. After a year away from football, Chester came out of retirement
to join the Oakland Invaders of the USFL. In its inaugural season, Chester caught 68 passes for
951 yards, was selected 1st Team All-USFL and was named the USFL Man
of the Year. After the season, Chester again retired from
professional football, this time permanently.

Todd
Christensen

A
four-year starter at running back for BYU, Christensen was selected in the 2nd
Round of the 1978 Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. After spending his first season
on injured reserve with a broken foot, the Cowboys asked Christensen to try
tight end. Christensen preferred to stay in the backfield so the Cowboys
released him after the final Preseason game. The Giants signed him in time for
the opening game and, after appearing in one play, promptly released him. He
signed with the Raiders after their 4th game and became a stalwart
on special teams for the next 3 seasons. But his presence on this list is as a
result of his career beginning in 1982. During the strike-shortened season,
following the retirement of Raymond Chester and an injury to Derrick Ramsey,
Christensen was given an opportunity as a tight end. He caught only 3 passes in
the first 2 games, but following the work stoppage, his role changed. In the
first game after the strike, Christensen caught 8 passes for 83 yards and a
touchdown in a 28-24 victory over the Chargers. In the final 6 games of the 9
game season, Christensen caught 31 passes, and added 11 more in 2 playoff
games. He followed that up with 4 of the biggest seasons any tight has ever
had.

Year

Receptions

Yards

Average

TDs

1983

92

1247

13.6

12

1984

80

1007

12.6

7

1985

82

987

12

6

1986

95

1153

12.1

8

To put
this into perspective, here are the tight ends with 1,000 yard receiving
seasons:

In the
strike-shortened 1987 season, Christensen added 47 catches for 663 yards, but
his 1988 season was cut short due to leg injuries, and then he was released
during the 1989 preseason.

Christensen
completed his career with 461 catches for 5,872 yards, and 41 touchdowns.
Unfortunately for Christensen, he only had 6 seasons as a full-time starter,
and 2 of those were cut short due to work stoppages. But for those 6 seasons he
was one of the top tight ends in history. He was named to 5 consecutive Pro
Bowls and was twice selected as a 1st-Team All-Pro and twice
selected to the 2nd Team.

Ben
Coates

Ben Coates
was the perfect tight end for Coach Bill Parcells’ tight end oriented offense.
Big and fast with soft hands, Coates was a good blocker with a terrific work
ethic. In his first two seasons out of LivingstoneCollege, Coates caught 30
passes for 266 yards. But then Parcells was hired to coach the Patriots and
Coates’ career took off. In 1993 he caught 53 passes for 659 yards and 8
touchdowns and in 1994 he set a then tight end reception record with 96 catches
for 1174 yards and 7 touchdowns. In five consecutive Pro Bowl seasons between
1994 and 1998, Coates didn’t catch fewer than 62 passes or gain fewer than 668
yards. After 9 seasons with New England, Coates joined the
Baltimore Ravens in 2000, helping them to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV.

Coates
retired with 499 catches for 5,555 yards and 50 touchdowns. As stated above, he
was named to the All-Decade Team of the 1990s.

Paul
Coffman

A former
walk-on at KansasState, Coffman did not earn a
starting position until his senior season. He went undrafted by the NFL so he
packed up his 1967 Chevrolet and attended a Green Bay Packers’ tryout camp. By
his second season, he was the starting tight end. By season 5 he was a Pro
Bowler. Standing only 6’3 and weighing in at 222 pounds, Coffman outworked the
opposition, spending 5 or 6 hours each day training during the offseason.

Between
1981 and 1983, the Packers had the best trio of receivers in the NFL, with
Coffman, James Lofton, and John Jefferson. Despite possessing a high-powered
passing attack, Green Bay finished 8-8 in 1981,
1983, 1984, and 1985, only finishing with a winning record in the strike
shortened 1982 season. During this time frame, Coffman was named to 3 Pro
Bowls. The Packers released both quarterback Lynn Dickey and Coffman during the 1986 training
camp. Coffman then spent two seasons with the Chiefs and one with the Vikings
before retiring. His career numbers include 339 receptions for 4,340 yards and
42 touchdowns.

Chris
Cooley

A 3rd
round pick out of UtahState by the Redskins in
2004, Cooley battled injuries for most of his career, limiting him to 5 seasons
as a full-time starter. During those 5 seasons, however, Cooley was one of the
most productive tight ends in the NFL. From 2005 to 2010, among tight ends,
only Gonzalez, Gates, and Witten caught more passes for
more yards than Cooley. He is one of only 8 tight ends to have had 3 or more
seasons with at least 70 catches and at least 700 yards receiving.[13]
And he is the only tight end in history with 6+ touchdown catches in each of
his first 4 seasons in the league. He retired with 429 catches for 4,711 yards
and 33 touchdowns. Cooley was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 2007 and
2008 seasons.

Alge
Crumpler

“The guy
is so good, it’s just not fair.”[14]
For four seasons, Crumpler was one of the most dominant tight ends in the game.
From 2003-2006, he represented the NFC in the Pro Bowl. During that time
period, only Gonzalez and Gates had more receiving yards and touchdowns among
tight ends. And Crumpler’s 14.0 yards per reception led all tight ends, with
only Dallas Clark within a yard of Crumpler’s average. But then Michael Vick’s
career took a detour. And with him, he took Crumpler’s success. As Vick
struggled with the West Coast Offense and how to be a pocket-passer, Crumpler
was his security blanket. Without Vick, the Falcons turned to Joey Harrington in
2007. Crumpler produced his fewest receiving yards since his rookie season. The
Falcons released him following the season, at which time Crumpler joined the
Titans, who, unfortunately for Alge, subjected him to the “quarterbacking
skills” of Vince Young. Needless to say, Crumpler’s numbers continued to
decrease. In 2010, he joined the Patriots for his final season, but he served
in a backup capacity to Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. In his ten NFL
seasons, Crumpler totaled 373 receptions for 4,743 yards, and 39 touchdowns.

Russ
Francis

Francis
grew up in Hawaii, the son of
professional wrestler Gentleman Ed Francis. In high school Russ starred in
football, wrestling, and basketball. When the family moved to Oregon, Francis took up track
and field, and set the national high school record for the javelin.

He
attended the University of Oregon where he participated
in both football and track and field. He broke his leg in 1972 after playing
only 3 games but he broke out in 1973 as the team’s leading receiver (31
catches for 495 yards and 4 touchdowns) and earned 1st Team All-Pac
8 honors. But then Oregon replaced head coach
Dick Enright with Don Read. Francis objected, and was told it was none of his
business. So he quit the team and dropped out of college. But after being told
he was ineligible for the draft since he had eligibility remaining, he
enrolled at OregonState in January of 1975.
Since he enrolled in another Pac 8 school, this cost him his final year of
eligibility, thus enabling him to be drafted. Despite missing his senior
season, and only playing 14 varsity games, the Patriots selected him in the 1st
Round.

In 1975,
he was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team after catching 35 passes for 636 yards
and 4 touchdowns. In 1976, the Patriots featured one of the great running
offenses in history, totaling 2,948 yards, a total that still ranks 8th
all-time despite taking place in a 14-game season. With the emphasis on the
ground game, the Patriots only completed 146 passes on the season. As a result,
Francis’ numbers dropped to 26 catches for 367 yards. But he hadn’t lost
anything, as evidenced by his 6 catch/139 yard game in a 30-27 victory over the
Steelers, a season in which Pittsburgh pitched 5 shutouts.
Despite the modest numbers, Francis was named to his first Pro Bowl, while the
Pats finished 11-3 and won the AFC East.

1977 got
off to a bad start when guards John Hannah and Leon Gray walked out on the
team. The Pats slipped to third place and Francis only caught 16 passes for 229
yards, but he was again named a Pro Bowler.

The
following season had a tragic beginning for the Patriots, as wide receiver
Darryl Stingley suffered an injury that left him paralyzed. The Patriots
marched on, however, again finishing in 1st place with an 11-5
record. Francis made his 3rd consecutive Pro Bowl, with 39 catches
for 543 yards. And the Patriots set a still-standing NFL record with 3,165
yards rushing.

After the
1978 season, Francis was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he suffered
a broken arm and ankle and killed his passenger. He was in a wheelchair for a
month and thus reported to camp in 1979 out of shape. Nonetheless, the Pats
were 6-2 at the halfway point of the season, and Francis had 29 catches and 5
touchdowns. But in game against Miami on October 21, he
cracked a transverse process, missing the next 2 games. He then suffered a
severe concussion on November 29 against Miami, and missed the rest of
the season. New
England
went 3-5 in the second half and missed the playoffs by one game.

In 1980, New England finished 10-6 but
missed out on the playoffs. Francis caught 41 passes for 664 yards and 8
touchdowns, and then, he abruptly retired, purportedly unhappy with life as a
football player.

He spent
1981 working as a broadcaster, until Bill Walsh convinced him that life is too
short and he wouldn’t get a second chance at being a professional football
player. The 49ers traded a 1st Round pick (#27 overall—Lester
Williams), 2 Second Round picks (#41—Andre Tippett and #55—Darryl Haley), and a
4th Round Pick (#111—Bryan Ingram) to the Pats for Francis. He
became San Francisco’s starting tight end
for the next several seasons, and in 75 games caught 186 passes for 2,105 yards
and 12 touchdowns. In the 49ers’ victory over the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX,
he caught 5 passes for 60 yards.

Francis
finished his career with one more season as a Patriot in 1988, and retired with
393 receptions for 5,262 yards and 40 TDs.

Antonio
Gates

The
Odyssey of Antonio Gates:

Gates was
an All-State football and basketball player in high school. In basketball, he
led Detroit Central to the State Championship and was runner-up to Dane Fife
for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball Award.
In football, he was ranked No. 6 on the Detroit News Blue Chip List. He signed
with MichiganState to play both sports.
But as a partial-qualifier he couldn’t play either sport and transferred to Eastern Michigan. He joined the
basketball team and became eligible after the first semester. In 18 games he
averaged 10.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. However, after a first round
loss in the MAC tournament, EMU fired head coach Milton Barnes, and replaced
him with Jim Boone, who wanted a team of role models for the university and the
community. Several players transferred or were dismissed, including Gates, who
was dismissed for academic issues.

Gates then
transferred to the College of the Sequoias in California. Although he was on the
football team, he was red-shirted so he did not play. Following a semester
there, Gates transferred to HenryFordCommunity College in Michigan for the Spring
semester. The following Fall he enrolled at KentState. The football coach of
the Golden Flashes (Dean Pees) had been the defensive coordinator at MichiganState during Gates’ brief
tenure. The head basketball coach Stan Heath had been a MichiganState assistant at that same
time. It was a perfect fit.

In his
first season with KentState, Gates was named 2nd
Team All-MAC in leading the Flashes to the MAC regular season championship. He
was named to the All-Tournament team in helping KentState win the Conference
Tournament. A 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament, KentState upset Oklahoma State, Alabama, and Pittsburgh, before running into Indiana in the Elite 8. The
Hoosiers shot 15 for 19 on 3-pointers to hold off KentState 81-69. Kent finished the season
30-6 and ranked 12th in the final Coaches Poll. After Kent’s run, Gates decided to
forego football and concentrate on basketball and academics.

As a
senior, Gates averaged 20.6 point and 7.7 rebounds per game, 1st Team
All-MAC, runner-up for MAC Player of the Year, and Honorable Mention
All-American, but a loss to Central Michigan (and Chris Kaman) in the MAC
Tournament Final sent them to the NIT, where they were summarily dismissed by
the College of Charleston. Gates ended his career with a school single-season
record of 640 points.

After a
poor showing at the Portsmouth Invitational, a basketball proving ground for
second-tier draft hopefuls, Gates held private workouts for several NFL teams.
Although not drafted, Gates signed a 2-year contract with the Chargers. 8 Pro
Bowls and 3 1st Team All-Pro selections later, the rest is history.

Jimmie
Giles

A 3rd
Round pick of the Houston Oilers in 1977, Giles and 4 draft picks were traded
to the Bucs for the first overall choice in the 1978 draft (Earl Campbell). A
big target for his era at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, Giles spent 9 seasons in a TampaBay uniform, collecting 279
receptions for 4,300 yards and a team record 34 touchdowns. Despite making
three playoff appearances, the Bucs were terrible for most of Giles career,
with a record of 45-82-1 during his tenure. Tampa was 1-6 in games in
which Giles eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark. On October
20, 1985,
Giles caught 4 touchdown passes, a single game total that trails only the
record-setting 5 caught by Jerry Rice and Kellen Winslow. Despite Giles’
efforts, the Bucs lost 41-38 to the Miami Dolphins that day.

Despite
toiling on bad teams in Tampa, Giles was named to 4
Pro Bowls and earned the respect of his opponents. Ozzie Newsome, when
discussing the greatest tight ends in history, listed Giles with Mackey, Ditka,
Jackie Smith, and Shannon Sharpe.[15]
In October 2011 at a luncheon for old Bucs and Bears, former Bears linebacker
Otis Wilson said, “[t]he toughest time we ever had is…Jimmie Giles…[T]his guy
was the best tight end to ever play football.”[16]

The Bucs
released Giles during the 1986 season, and he was picked up by the Detroit
Lions. He was later traded to the Philadelphia Eagles[17]
where he ended his career with 350 receptions for 5,084 yards and 41
touchdowns. In 2011, the Bucs selected him to be the third member of the
franchise’s Ring of Honor, joining Lee Roy Selmon and John McKay.

Tony
Gonzalez

1325
catches. 15,127 yards. 111 touchdowns. Any questions?

Eric
Green

A
year-by-year look at Eric Green’s career, through quotations of the men around
him:

“If you
had an Erector set and somebody said, ‘Make me a tight end,’ this is who you’d
make.”[18]—Sam
Rutigliano, Green’s head coach at LibertyUniversity.

When
Rutigliano arrived, Green had made 37 receptions in 3 less than impressive
seasons. Rutigliano, however, saw “Mark Bavaro in a bigger package” and
redesigned the offense around Green, who caught 62 passes for 905 yards and 10
touchdowns as a senior.[19]
The Pittsburgh Steelers subsequently selected Green in the 1st Round
(No. 21) of the 1990 NFL Draft.

“Maybe you
get some people who are trying to get drafted No. 1 who really aren’t
interested in playing professional football. They are more interested in
getting a political base to get as much money as they can. I’d just as soon not
have people like that around, if it’s a first-round choice or whatever. I think
what we’ve proved is 12th-round choices are as important as
first-round choices. Maybe we put too much value on first-round choices. He’s
not worth that much to us anymore. He missed all this time. It’s not worth it.
I’m not interested in Eric Green right now. I’m interested in the guys we have
here. I’m only interested in our people and he’s not one of our people right
now.”[20]—Steelers
head coach Chuck Noll.

Green held
out for 51-days, missing all of training camp and not signing until the day
after the season opener. Head coach Chuck Noll was not interested in having
Green on the team. Nonetheless, Green became a starter Week 5. The Steelers
were 1-3 and the offense had scored 0 touchdowns in 46 possessions. In his
first 2 starts, Pittsburgh victories, Green caught
7 passes and 5 touchdowns. He finished the season with 34 catches for 387 yards
and 11 touchdowns, and the Steelers finished 9-7.

“He’s big
enough to block people like a tackle. He’s fast enough to be a wide receiver
and make receiver-type catches. And he’s fluid enough to beat linebackers and
secondary people from the tight end spot. He’s an unbelievable athlete who I
think is going to be a legitimate superstar. Hey, he’s a superstar already.”[21]—Steelers
offensive coordinator Joe Walton.

Green was
the perfect tight end for Joe Walton’s offense. But in his second season, he
suffered a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament during the preseason,
causing him to miss much of training camp. The inactivity added 20 pounds to
his already large frame. The injury hampered him all year until he broke his
ankle in November, causing him to miss the final 5 games of the season.
Nonetheless, in 11 games he caught 41 passes for 582 yards and 6 touchdowns.

“There’s
quite a bit of difference in the offenses. There are times he might be the
primary receiver and times he won’t. I don’t think you can build a team with
one guy.”[22]—Steelers
new offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt.

Following
the 1991 season, Bill Cowher replaced Chuck Noll as head coach of the Steelers
and Ron Erhardt replaced Joe Walton as offensive coordinator. With the coaching
change, less of the offensive focus was geared toward Green, which ultimately
was a good thing. Green injured his shoulder during the preseason, then
reinjured himself on the first play of the season opener against the Houston
Oilers, causing him to miss the first 4 games. After returning, he caught 14
passes for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns in 5 games, including the game-winner
against Houston on November 1. But on
November 9, the NFL suspended Green for 6 games for violating the League’s
substance abuse policy. He returned in time for the season finale and also
appeared in the Divisional Playoff, but didn’t catch a pass in either game.

“Your
value is correlated to your accountability. That’s going to be measured over
time.”[23]—Steelers
head coach Bill Cowher.

After a
disappointing 1992 season, Green dedicated himself to working hard throughout
the offseason to prepare for the 1993 season, which was the final year of his
contract. The hard work paid off, as Green appeared in 16 games for the first
time in his 4 year career. The Steelers made the playoffs but lost to Joe
Montana and the Chiefs in overtime. Green’s touchdown with 4:11 remaining gave Steelers
24-17 lead. He ended the year with 63 catches for 942 yards and 5 touchdowns. Yet
when the AFC Pro Bowl squad was named, Green was listed as the first alternate
behind Shannon Sharpe and Keith Jackson. Jackson, who had 39 catches for 613
yards, agreed he shouldn’t have been selected. But 1993 was the first year of
fan voting, which counted for one-third of the total, and ultimately was the
difference maker for Jackson’s selection. But Jackson pulled out with a groin
injury, allowing Green to appear in his first Pro Bowl. With 7 votes, Green
finished fourth in the AP All-Pro voting, behind Sharpe (42), Brent Jones (20),
and Pete Metzelaars (8). The Steelers designated Green their franchise player.

As a free
agent, the Steelers used the franchise tag on Green, and offered the minimum
one-year contract for a tight end franchise player ($1.434 million), while
trying to work out a multi-year contract. Green wanted $2.5 million per year
while Pittsburgh would not offer more
than $2 million. Green did not like any offer and held out all of training
camp, eventually accepting the one-year deal a few days before the season
opener, in hopes he would not be designated the franchise tag again after the
season, allowing him to be an unrestricted free agent. After missing all of
training camp, Green did not impress in the opener against the Dallas Cowboys,
in Barry Switzer’s NFL debut. The Steelers were outgained 442 to 126, Neil
O’Donnell was sacked 10 times, Green caught 2 passes for 24 yards, and the
Cowboys won (in Pittsburgh) 26-9. Pittsburgh regrouped, however,
finishing 12-4, but losing the AFC Conference Championship to the San Diego
Chargers 17-13. Green finished the season with 46 catches for 618 yards and 4
touchdowns, but was perhaps best known for organizing a Super Bowl rap video a
couple of days before the loss to the Chargers. Once again, Green was passed
over for the Pro Bowl, as Ben Coates and Shannon Sharpe were named to the AFC
squad. This time Sharpe pulled out, and Green replaced him in the lineup. He
added two touchdowns in the Pro Bowl. Following the season, the Steelers used
the franchise tag on CarnellLake, making Green an
unrestricted free agent.

“This is
how people have to run their business and we all realize that. Eric Green is
just the flavor of the week.”[25]—Keith
Jackson’s agent Gary Wichard.

Dolphins’
tight end Keith Jackson had stated 1995 might be his last season. Unsure of Jackson’s future, and looking
for a better blocker, the Dolphins turned its sights on finding another tight
end. They signed Green to a 6-yr. $12 million contract with a $3.5 million
signing bonus. Things started well. After 2 games, the Dolphins ranked 2nd
in the league in rushing offense. Although they struggled on the ground the
next two weeks, they still managed to begin the season 4-0. But then they lost
3 consecutive games by a total of 7 points, and suffered another 3-game losing
streak later in the season. Their running game was not nearly as good as people
thought, and they ended 9-7. They lost in the playoffs to Buffalo 37-22. Green finished
the season with 43 catches for 499 yards and 3 touchdowns, and perhaps most
importantly, he missed 39 practices during the year. After the season, Palm
Beach Post sports editor Dan Moffett wrote, “It is impossible to watch Green
play without hearing the Dire Straits rock anthem Money for Nothin’ blaring in
the subconscious.”[26]
Buffalo News columnist Larry Felser referred to Green as “Doink,” because
that’s the sound you hear when Green drops a pass, which happens about every
other time one is thrown to him.[27]
Green dropped four passes in the AFC wildcard game. Six days after the season,
Shula retired. The Dolphins hired Jimmy Johnson as his replacement.

“I didn’t
want him on our football team.”[28]—Dolphins
head coach Jimmy Johnson.

Shortly
after Johnson took over coaching duties, Green injured his knee. There were
discrepancies in the story about how the injury occurred. Green later missed a
non-mandatory rehab assignment, the only injured Dolphin to do so, and he was
released. Despite failing his physical, he signed with the Ravens four weeks
into the 1996 season on a 1-year/$432,000 contract. He was finally cleared to
play in time for Baltimore’s 7th game,
a 45-34 loss to Denver in which Green caught 3
passes for 30 yards. After appearing in 5 straight games (4 losses), Green was
out due to the lingering effects of his knee. But he came back a week later to
face his former Steelers team, and scored his only touchdown of the season, a
3-yard catch that provided the final margin in a 31-17 victory. He had his 2nd
surgery of the year and missed the remainder of the season.

“Eric has
been one of the surprises in camp. There have been no problems with his knee,
and he’s done an excellent job to this point.”[29]—Ravens
head coach Ted Marchibroda.

Green
agreed to another one year deal, this one worth slightly more than the veteran
minimum of $275,000, but loaded with incentives. After an offseason spent
rehabbing his knee, Green earned the starting tight end position over Brian
Kinchen, and had a very productive season, appearing in all 16 games while
catching 65 passes for 601 yards and 5 touchdowns.

“There is
a fire there, like he has something to prove. He has come ready to play. With
most players, you play to their strengths. With Eric, you really don’t know
what his strength is, because he has speed, quickness and power. He can do it
all.”[30]—Ravens
defensive end Peter Boulware.

Green
again signed a one year contract with the Ravens. He was one of the most
impressive performers during training camp and started off the season great,
catching 10 passes for 190 yards over the first 3 games. He was held to 2
catches against Cincinnati in Week 4, but then he
suffered a ruptured air sac in his lung during the 2nd quarter
against Tennessee. After missing the next
couple of games, he returned to face Jacksonville. According to head
coach Ted Marchibroda, “I think at this particular time, our leader on the
offensive club is Eric Green. Before he left, he was our go-to-guy. He was the
guy who’s one of the outstanding blockers in the NFL. He was our guy as far as
passes are concerned. He’s the guy I think we could least afford to miss over
these last three weeks.”[31]
In the teams’ last full game with him, they won 31-24. Without him, the offense
managed one touchdown in 2 ½ games. Upon his return to the lineup, he didn’t
provide the expected lift in a 45-19 loss to Jacksonville, catching 4 passes for
43 yards and 2 fumbles. During the contest, he dislocated his pinkie, which
required surgery and forced him to miss the next game. He came back and played
solidly, but he was not the same player. The Ravens focused on him a lot, and
defenses keyed on him. The offense consistently scored more points with him on
the field but a bruised a knee against Chicago forced him to miss the
season finale. He had arthroscopic knee surgery following the season.

After Jacksonville signed tight end Kyle
Brady to a 5-year/$14.4 million contract, the Jets were in the market for a new
tight end, and targeted Green, signing him to a 4-year/$7.5 million deal. After
experiencing knee pain throughout the preseason, Green injured his neck in the
season opener, causing him to sit out Week 2. He returned but played abysmally
the next several weeks, before undergoing another knee surgery. He returned for
a couple of more games before being placed on injured reserve. In all, he was
mostly used as a blocker, albeit a poor one, and caught only 7 passes for 37
yards. He underwent neck surgery after the season and he was waived by the
Jets.

Green
finished his career with 362 catches for 4,390 yards, and 36 touchdowns.

Todd
Heap

Selected
in the 1st Round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Heap ranks 1st on the
all-time Baltimore Ravens list for receiving touchdowns and 2nd in
receptions and receiving yards. He finished his 12 year career (the final 2
with the Cardinals) with 499 catches, 5,869 yards, and 42 touchdowns. Heap was
named a Pro Bowler in each of his first 2 seasons as a starter.

Rodney
Holman

Rodney
Holman may be the poster child for the idea that the media is not a good judge
of talent. Although tight ends need to be good blockers as well as receivers,
“[s]ome of the so-called experts tend to give precedence to one aspect of our
job over another.”[33]
Holman consistently posted solid numbers for the Bengals while being an excellent
blocker. “His blocking is a pretty thing to watch.”[34]
But Holman had the misfortune of playing during a time when the tight end’s
role in the passing game was being reduced. When Holman entered the league in
1982, Kellen Winslow was the ideal tight end. In 1983, Winslow caught 88 passes
for 1172 yards. In 1984, 15 tight ends caught 40 or more passes. Fast forward
to 1989 and Rodney Holman was 1 of 5 tight ends with 40 or more catches. And he
was the only tight end to eclipse 700 yards receiving, a number that had been
reached by 8 men in 1984. Even though he was one of the best tight ends in his
time, he was underappreciated. He was named to 3 consecutive Pro Bowls between
1988 and 1990. After 11 seasons with Cincinnati, he played 3 years with
Detroit before retiring with
365 receptions, 4,771 yards, and 36 touchdowns. His 4 seasons with 30 or more
catches while averaging 14 or more yards per reception trails only the six
seasons produced by Riley Odoms and Jackie Smith.

Keith
Jackson

Among
players whose careers began after the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, only Earl Campbell,
Lawrence Taylor, Barry Sanders, and Keith Jackson were named 1st
Team All-Pro in each of their first three seasons. Unfortunately, Jackson was unable to sustain
his initial success.

In his
1988 rookie season, he set a Philadelphia single-season record
with 81 catches, surpassing Mike Quick’s total of 73 set in 1985. He came 2
receptions short of Earl Cooper’s NFL rookie mark of 83 set in 1980. He was 2nd
in the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting behind New England running back John
Stephens, but he won the NFC Rookie of the Year over TampaBay’s Paul Gruber. In year
2, his numbers dropped off but he still finished with 63 catches for 648 yards.

In 1990, Jackson sat out the first 2
games in a futile attempt to force the Eagles to renegotiate his contract. He
eventually reported and had another 50 catch season. His numbers fell off in
1991 due to injuries to Randall Cunningham and Jim McMahon. He was also used
more as a blocker to compensate for the struggles of rookie offensive tackle
Antone Davis.

In 1992, Jackson held out for a contract
on par with that received by Jerry Rice. As his holdout stretched into the
season, a federal jury ruled that Plan B, under which teams are allowed to protect
37 players each year, violated federal antitrust rules. Under Plan B, protected
players could not offer their services to other teams without allowing their
current team a chance to sign them. Any team signing a protected player had to
compensate the player’s original club. After the jury’s decision, four players
(Jackson, Garin Veris, Webster Slaughter, and DJ Dozier) asked the judge for a
temporary order forcing the NFL to declare them free agents. The judge granted
their request but only allowed them 5 days of free agency. Jackson ultimately signed a
4-year/$6-million contract with the Miami Dolphins. In his 1st game
with Miami, he caught 4 passes for 64 yards and a
touchdown in a 37-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. Miami won the AFC East
finishing 11-5, but lost in the playoffs to Buffalo 29-10.

In 3
seasons in Miami, Jackson caught 146 passes for
1880 yards. In 1995, in hopes of getting a better run blocker, the Dolphins
signed Eric Green to a six-year, $12 million contract. After the signing,
Jackson, who had been contemplating retirement, was traded to Green Bay, with a
4th round pick, in exchange for a 2nd Round pick (#53). Jackson refused to report, and
the Packers filed a grievance against Jackson for the entire signing
bonus if he did not fulfill his contract. He ultimately reported to the Packers
on October 20, allegedly after watching them play a Monday night game against Chicago. Backing up Mark
Chmura, Jackson provided little help
for the Packers who won the NFC Central. He appeared in 9 games and caught 13
passes for 142 yards. But he exploded in the playoffs, with 4 catches for 101
yards and 1 TD against San Francisco and 5 catches for 99
yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship game against Dallas. Rejuvenated by the
success of Green Bay, Jackson came back for one more
season, catching 40 passes for 505 yards and a career high 10 touchdown
catches. He added 5 catches in the postseason and retired following the 35-21
victory over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Jackson finished with 441
receptions for 5,283 yards and 49 TDs. His 6 postseason touchdowns tie him with
Jay Novacek for 2nd on the all-time list among tight ends, trailing
only Dave Casper’s 7, while his 834 yards receiving in the postseason ranks
second behind Dallas Clark’s 847.

Brent
Jones

A member
of 3 Super Bowl champion teams with the San Francisco 49ers, Jones finished
his career with 417 catches for 5,195 yards and 33 touchdowns. He made 4
consecutive Pro Bowls and was twice selected to the AP All-Pro 2nd
Team. He is one of 21 players with 60 or more postseason catches, and he trails
only Jay Novacek (62) and Shannon Sharpe (62) among tight ends.

Steve
Jordan

Selected
in the 7th Round out of Brown University, Jordan was named to 6 Pro
Bowls. Only Gonzalez, Gates, Sharpe, Sanders, and Witten were named to more, yet
Jordan has been largely
forgotten. His appearance on the Hall of Fame’s preliminary list several years
ago was the result of the Highway to Hall nominating him. He spent all 13
seasons in Minnesota, totaling 498 catches
for 6,307 yards and 28 touchdowns. It is this last number that probably
prevented him from being better known, as the Vikings shied away from him near
the end zone. For instance, in 1985, Jordan caught a team-leading
68 passes for 795 yards (26 yards behind team leader Anthony Carter), yet never
found the end zone (more on this in the Jeremy Shockey section). A part of 7
Vikings playoff teams, Minnesota could never get over
the hump, only twice winning a postseason game during his tenure.

Jay
Novacek

Ethan
Horton…Jonathan Hayes…Mark Bavaro…Tony Davis…Keli McGregor…K.D. Dunn…Keith
Lester…Mark Lewis…Jay Novacek. The 1985 NFL Draft was a bit of a joke,
particularly when it came to the tight end position. The top names on pre-draft
boards were Keli McGregor and Tony Davis. Obviously the Chiefs, who selected
Horton and Hayes in the top 2 rounds, and the Giants, who selected Bavaro in
round 4, disagreed. Once New York chose Bavaro, it began
a run on tight ends, with 9 selected between rounds 4 and 6. A total of 23
tight ends were selected, yet somehow everyone missed on Novacek, an athlete
good enough to finish 4th in the NCAA in the decathlon and qualify
for the Olympic Trials. The 5 tight ends selected between Bavaro and Novacek
combined to start 9 games and catch a total of 16 passes. Bavaro’s stats were
discussed previously. Novacek finished his career with 422 catches for 4,630
yards and 30 touchdowns. Sometimes the talent evaluators forget athleticism,
which is surprising for a position which thrives on it.

Regardless,
Novacek was selected in the 6th round by the Cardinals, who were
immediately impressed by him. “The first thing you notice about Novacek is that
he’s a big man…But he really moves well for his size.”[35]
Go figure. A decathlete that can move well. Will wonders never cease?
Nonetheless, Novacek spent two seasons backing up Doug Marsh. After Marsh’s
retirement, the Cardinals drafted Robert Awalt, who split time with Novacek to
form one of the best tight end duos in the NFL. Novacek’s best season in a
Cardinal uniform came in 1988, when he caught 38 passes for 569 yards.

In 1990,
Novacek signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a Plan B free agent. Immediately
inserted into the starting lineup, Novacek set career highs with 59 catches for
657 yards and 4 touchdowns, and immediately became one of Troy Aikman’s
favorite targets: “I don’t want to play on a team without Jay Novacek. He’s my security
blanket. He gives us a lot of flexibility in our passing game, and I don’t know
where we’d be without him.”[36]

The
following season, Novacek posted near identical numbers (59 catches for 664
yards and 4 TDs), but this time he was rewarded with the first of 5 consecutive
Pro Bowl trips.

With Dallas, Novacek was a part of
3 Super Bowl champions. His 6 postseason touchdowns trail only Dave Casper
among tight ends in that category.

Novacek
retired after the Cowboys’ victory in Super Bowl XXX, making him one of 18
players to be named a Pro Bowler in each of his final 5 seasons.[37]

Riley
Odoms

Odoms is
one of only 3 tight ends selected in the top 5 of the NFL draft. Selected #5
overall in the 1972 draft, Odoms spent his entire 12 year career with the Broncos.
He was the NFL’s top tight end before Dave Casper arrived on the scene. He was
named AP 2nd Team All-Pro in 1973 before earning 1st Team
honors in 1974 and 1975. He again made the 2nd Team in Denver’s 1977 Super Bowl
season, but was inexplicably left off the All-Pro teams in 1978, despite career
highs in receptions and yards. A model of consistency, Odoms is one of 7 tight
ends with 9 or more consecutive seasons with 30+ catches. Ozzie Newsome is the
only other member whose career began before 1997.[38] Odoms
retired following the 1983 season with 396 catches for 5,755 yards and 41
touchdowns. His name is noticeably absent from the Broncos Ring of Honor.

Pete
Retzlaff

Retzlaff
deserves an asterisk to be included in this list because he spent many seasons
as a wide receiver before moving to tight end during the 1962 season. But
during the next 3 ½ seasons, he produced incredible numbers, more than enough
to garner inclusion among this group.

An
outstanding collegiate athlete, Retzlaff set NAIA records for the shot put and
the discus at South DakotaState, a program that also
produced Hall of Famer Jim Langer and future Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri.
Retzlaff was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1953 draft by the
Detroit Lions but returned to college to work in the athletic department,
before joining the military in 1954. After his discharge from the service in
1956, he learned his contract had been sold to the Eagles. Retzlaff produced 2
less than stellar seasons with the Eagles before Philadelphia acquired Norm van
Brocklin, at which point Retzlaff’s career took off. He led the NFL in
receiving in 1958, and made the first of 5 trips to the Pro Bowl.

In 1960, he led the Eagles to the NFL Championship and made his 2nd
Pro Bowl appearance. But in 1962, a rash of injuries forced him to move to
tight end. He proceeded to produce 3 straight seasons with 50 catches and 800
yards receiving. In 1965, he posted the 2nd 1,000 yard season by a
tight end in NFL history, surpassing Mike Ditka’s 1,076 yards in 1961 with 1,190
yards, a total that still ranks 8th all-time. That season he was named 1st Team
All-Pro and earned the Bert Bell Award as the NFL MVP. Retzlaff retired
following the 1966 season, and he still ranks 2nd on the
Philadelphia Eagles list for receptions (452) and yards (7412) behind Harold
Carmichael.

Jeremy Shockey

Three
tight ends have caught 50 or more passes in a season without a touchdown. As
stated above, Steve Jordan caught 68 passes in 1985 but never found the end
zone. In 1989, Eric Sievers caught 54 passes for New England with no scores. In
2008, Shockey became the third member of this illustrious group, catching 50
passes and no touchdowns.

In the
storied history of the New York Giants, eight tight ends have caught 100 or
more passes. The list, in the order of yards/reception, is as follows:

Shuler was
a big part of the Jets high-powered aerial attack in the 1980s. With wide
receiver Wesley Walker as the deep threat, Shuler played the role of the
possession receiver, catching 65 or more passes in a season on four occasions.
Although his average of 11.04 yards/reception is the 6th lowest
among all tight ends with 300 or more career catches, Shuler had some big
performances. In the Jets’ 1981 playoff loss to the Bills, in which New York spotted Buffalo a 24-0 lead, Shuler
caught 6 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. In a 17-17 tie to the Chiefs in
1988, Shuler caught 12 passes for 152 yards. He also scored 3 second quarter touchdowns
in the 62-28 beatdown of the Bucs in 1985. Shuler spent his first 12 seasons
with New York before finishing his
career with the Eagles. He totaled 562 catches for 5,100 yards and 37
touchdowns. A 2-time Pro Bowler, Shuler was named to the AP All-Pro 2nd
Team in 1988.

Jerry
Smith

“The
Kellen Winslow of the 1960s,”[39]
Jerry Smith retired following the 1977 NFL season with 421 catches for 5,496
yards and 60 touchdowns. At that time, he ranked 3rd in both
receptions and yards among tight ends (behind Ditka and Jackie Smith) and 1st
in touchdowns. In fact, he ranked an emphatic first in touchdowns. Second place
belonged to Ditka and his 43 touchdowns. Jackie Smith was the only other tight
end with at least 40, and he had exactly 40. A total of 11 men had 30 or more,
meaning Jerry Smith had at least twice as many touchdowns as all but 10 tight
ends.

27-Y
Corner. “It started with a fake to (halfback) Larry Brown off tackle…[t]hat
left Jerry open in the corner (for a touchdown). It was our best goal-line play.
We could run it in our sleep.”[40]

As the
years moved on, tight ends became a bigger part of the passing game, and the
numbers increased. By 1987, Jerry Smith ranked 6th in catches and 7th
in yards, but still 1st in touchdowns, although now 14 tight ends had
at least 40 touchdowns. But no one else had more than 50.

By 1997,
Jerry Smith was 11th in receptions and 9th in yards, but
still no other tight end had more than 50 touchdowns.

In fact,
it wasn’t until 1999 when Jerry Smith finally had company in the 50-touchdown
club (Ben Coates). And it took until 2003 for someone else to join, and
ultimately pass, him in the 60-touchdown club (Shannon Sharpe).

Today, his
numbers don’t look spectacular. He ranks 24th in catches and 16th
in yards. But his 60 touchdowns trail only Gonzalez (107), Gates (86), and
Sharpe (62).

When asked
if he could make sense of Smith’s death at the age of 43, quarterback Sonny
Jurgensen responded, “Lombardi must have needed a tight end…He went for the
best.”[41]

(2)His 22.57
yard/catch average in 1969 is an NFL record for tight ends with a minimum of 30
catches.

(3)His (-7)
yards receiving in the postseason is the 5th lowest of all-time,
trailing a linebacker (Rocky Boiman), a tackle (Al Jamison), and 2 quarterbacks
(Jim Kelly and Steve McNair). In all, 21 players have fewer than 0 yards
receiving in the postseason.

(4)He was the
last tight end named 1st Team AP All-Pro for the AFL.

(5)18 tight
ends were selected in the 1968 draft, only 7 of whom ever appeared in an NFL
game. Chosen in the 12th round, Trumpy was the 11th tight
end selected. In Round 3, the Lions drafted Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders. Both
players spent their entire careers with one team and retired following the 1977
season. Their numbers are as follows:

Name

Games

Receptions

Yards

TDs

Average

Sanders

128

336

4817

31

14.3

Trumpy

128

298

4600

35

15.4

Wesley
Walls

A linebacker
in college, Walls was considered a tight end project when he came out of Mississippi. Selected in the 2nd
round of the 1989 NFL Draft by San Francisco, Walls arrived in time to win a
Super Bowl ring his rookie season. Unfortunately for him, he also arrived just
as Brent Jones began to develop into one of the league’s top tight ends. “All
the attention went away from ‘let’s develop Wesley Walls into this good tight
end,’ into ‘we got a good tight end.’”[42]
In the 2nd game of the 1991 season, Jones went down with a torn knee
ligament. Rather than turn to Walls, the 49ers inserted Jamie Williams into the
starting lineup. Walls then missed all of the 1992 to reconstructive shoulder
surgery. Following a 1993 season again shortened by injuries, Walls left San Francisco as an unrestricted free
agent and signed with the New Orleans Saints. In 5 seasons as a 49er, Walls
caught 11 passes.

His first
season in New Orleans he caught 38 passes for
406 yards, despite splitting time with Irv Smith. His second season he set a
team record for receptions with 57, but he continued to share time with Smith.
As a result, despite a comparable contract offer from the Saints, Walls signed
with the Carolina Panthers. Finally playing full-time, Walls blossomed into the
top tight end in the NFC, earning Pro Bowl honors each of the next 4 seasons.
After missing half of 2000 to a torn ACL, Walls returned to form in 2001,
earning his 5th trip to Hawaii. Walls spent one more
injury-plagued season in Carolina before moving onto a
lackluster season in Green Bay in which he served as a
backup to Bubba Franks. Walls retired with 450 catches, 5,291 yards, and 54
touchdowns. He ranks third on Carolina’s career list for
receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns (behind Steve Smith and Muhsin
Muhammad).

Best known
for his role in the Music City Miracle, Wycheck is one of 9 tight ends in the
500 reception club, though his 5,126 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns both
rank last among the 9 members. His 10.15 yards/catch is the lowest among all
tight ends with 400 catches, and only Pete Metzelaars and his 9.62 yard average
rank lower among tight ends with 300+ catches. Nonetheless, Wycheck was a solid
tight end who had a respectable career, which was difficult to predict based on
how he entered the League.

Despite
leaving as the Terrapins’ all-time leading receiver, Wycheck had a rocky career
at the University of Maryland. As a redshirt
freshman, Wycheck set the Maryland single-game and
single-season reception records (behind the passing of Scott Zolak) as an
H-back and helped lead the Terrapins to the Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl.
His sophomore season, the team slipped to 2-9 and head coach Joe Krivak was
fired. Despite catching an ACC-record 103 passes for 947 yards his first two
seasons, Wycheck had to find a new position, as new coach Mark Duffner
installed the run-and-shoot, which used neither a tight end nor an H-back.
Early in the season, Wycheck was used mostly in goal-line situations. As the
season progressed, Wycheck saw more action as a running back. He twice rushed
for 100 yards in the last 3 games, including 162 in the season finale. But he
was a tight end, not a running back, so he chose to forego his senior season
and enter the draft. He was selected in the 6th Round by the
Redskins. He saw little action in 2 seasons in Washington, and eventually asked
for, and received, his release.

He signed
with the Houston Oilers and in his first season with the club he caught 40
passes for 471 yards. He started every game the next 6 seasons, and didn’t
catch fewer than 53 passes. He posted 5 consecutive seasons with at least 60
catches, a feat matched or exceeded by only Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten,
Shannon Sharpe, Antonio Gates, and Ben Coates. He earned 3 trips to the Pro
Bowl and was named 2nd Team All-Pro in 2000. He retired following
the 2003 season.

Charle
Young

A 1st
Round Pick out of USC by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973, Charle Young burst
onto the scene with 55 catches for 854 yards, both totals ranking 4th
in the NFL. He was named the UPI NFC Rookie of the Year[43],
earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, and became the first rookie tight end to be
named 1st Team All-Pro.[44]
He followed that up with an NFC-leading 63 catches for 696 yards and another
Pro Bowl selection. In four seasons with the Eagles, Young caught 197 passes as
part of Roman Gabriel’s “Fire High Gang.” Young, standing 6’4”, along with 6’8”
Harold Carmichael and 6’3” Don Zimmerman, were given this moniker because, as
the story goes, whenever Gabriel called a passing play, one of them would say,
“Fire high, baby.”[45]

Young was
named a Pro Bowler in each of his first 3 seasons, but the lack of team success
led to the firing of head coach Mike McCormack. With the hiring of Dick Vermeil
came an offensive change. 1976 was Young’s least productive season. Not happy
with his new role and the direction the franchise was headed, Young said, “I
want to play for a warm weather franchise…I’d like to play on natural turf and
I’d like to be with a contender.”[46]
Young had played out his option in 1976 but he still “belonged” to the Eagles.
The Eagles traded first refusal rights to Young to the Los Angeles Rams in
exchange for the first refusal rights to quarterback Ron Jaworski. Since
neither player had contracts, the trade meant that if they were offered
contracts by other teams, the Rams (Young) and Eagles (Jaworski) had first
priority to match the contract offer or be compensated.

Young
signed with the Rams which would best be described as a situation of “be
careful what you wish for.” In 3 seasons with the Rams, Young was stuck as a
backup to Terry Nelson in the ball-control offense of head coach Chuck Knox,
nicknamed “Ground Chuck.” He totaled only 36 catches for 392 yards.

But in
1980 his career was revived by Bill Walsh, who utilized Young in the 49ers West
Coast Offense. He caught 29 passes for 325 yards in 1980, and the following
season he collected 37 receptions for 400 yards and provided solid blocking in
helping San Francisco win its first Super Bowl. After the strike-shortened 1982
season, Young joined the Seahawks, where he spent 3 seasons before retiring
after the 1985 season.

In reviewing
the above list, clearly Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates will be the next two
tight ends enshrined in Canton, barring a Seniors
Candidate in the meantime. Gonzalez, much like Jerry Rice has done for
receivers, probably will make it even more difficult for tight ends in the
future. Gonzalez’ numbers may never be matched. And all tight ends will
ultimately be compared to him, which is unfair for many tight ends that excel
at blocking.

Additionally,
Gonzalez’ longevity is unprecedented, with 270 games played and 253 starts.
Tight end is a position with a high attrition rate. Most of the players listed
above had very high peaks, but due to the physical demands of the position,
were unable to sustain the level of performance they had set. Gonzalez has set
the bar so high, that no one may be able to come near it.

Furthermore,
since a tight end’s career is so short, they need to find the perfect offense
for their skill set. Most of the men above experienced a change in quarterback,
offensive scheme, or team during their careers, which greatly affected their
production, making it that much more difficult for them to make a Hall of Fame
argument.

In the
end, there is room for more tight ends, but not a lot. It is very difficult to
separate most of the candidates. Many of the tight ends undoubtedly will
ultimately end up as topics for discussion for the Seniors Committee, with
Jerry Smith (touchdowns), Pete Retzlaff (performance at 2 positions), Mark Bavaro (reputation), and Jay Novacek (contribution to 3 Super Bowl teams) as the 4 most likely selections, as they each have one additional argument to separate them from the group.

It is a
shame only one tight end appeared on this year’s preliminary ballot, as most of
these men had careers worth remembering.